CBO Projects Almost No Annual Growth in Pell Grant Costs (2012-13 to 2023-24)

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently released a report that explores the growth in the Pell Grant program between 2006-07 and 2010-11, citing factors such as the economic downturn and legislated policy changes. We are planning to dig deeper into the CBO’s analysis over the coming weeks, but wanted to highlight one important point in the report.

Although the cost of the Pell Grant program increased substantially between 2006-07 and 2010-11, that pace of growth is not expected to continue. In fact, CBO projects almost no annual growth in Pell Grant program costs between 2012-13 and 2023-24, after adjusting for inflation. Over that entire 11-year period, the program’s costs are only projected to increase by 1% in real terms.

It’s clearly time for policymakers to stop asking whether Pell Grants are sustainable and focus instead on whether they’re sufficient. Even after recent increases, the maximum grant covers the smallest share of the cost of attending a four-year public college since the start of the program. Pell Grant recipients are more than twice as likely as other students to have to borrow to pay for college. The CBO data drive home the need for a comprehensive approach to financial aid and higher education policy, so that all students who are willing to study hard can afford to go to college and graduate.

For more information about Pell Grants, please visit TICAS’ Pell Grant Resource Page: http://www.ticas.wpadev.io/pellgrant_resources.vp.html. For TICAS’ recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of Pell Grants, see our white paper at http://www.ticas.wpadev.io/pub_view.php?idx=873.